Symbol of the Chosen

Borin Pre-Campaign

journey into the mountain

As I was forging a simple pipe from my beloved bloodstone, I felt a tug by the stone around me, urging me to go deeper into the mountain. I traveled for three days and have come to caverns that I’ve never been through. Underground river traveling upriver. There was a spout that led to some other room, so I molded myself a breathing apparatus from stone, and plunged into the spout. As I’m climbing through the spout, I found a stone ramp that led ashore. Bashing open the helmet, I saw what looked to be a large room with a glowing stone in the middle and an alter beside it. Upon examination of the stone, there was a rune place on top of it. As I grabbed for the stone, a burning pain shot up my arm. The rune began glow burn into my hand. The next thing I see is a dark figure coming towards me. Before I could clearly see it, a vision came before me. I was taken to the base of the largest tree I had ever seen, then whisked away to another vision; a woman weeping over a small body. Then a third vision of a man in a hood and covered in darkness. As the visions faded away, I saw a light far off. I moved toward it but was stopped by a voice that said to move to the light is to move towards my own death. The voice went on to say that I have been chosen; chosen to stop a darkness from taking over, to aid those who will help me. Then the room began to crumble, so I took the stone, shot back through the river and headed back to my forge to collect my gear. After consulting with my clan elders. I set off from The Black Mountains towards the elf-lands.

I met up with a caravan of traders in Stonelock and started towards Thalris. On the road, bugbears began attacking my company. I slaughtered all those who seeked to harm my fellow travelers. We made it to Lundara. I was heading to the tavern when I heard a woman shriek. I went to see what the commotion was, and I see a woman running towards me get hit with an arrow. I tried to protect her, but an arrow came from behind me and hit her in the heart. Seconds away from death, I heal her with my Earth’s Blood and get her to cover. Arrows sang by us and clanged on the building walls, curses spat by the shooters. All of the sudden I hear a blade sink into a person, and a body melded out of the shadows. Upon examination, a dagger had pierced this guys spinal cord, paralyzing and killing the man instantly. Arrows stopped flying and I went to the rooftops. I could see no men, but I could feel there were recent foot indention’s on the stones. 2 sets of footprints; the first climbed up to the rooftop, the second was just there. the second pair also made a lighter indention than the first; odd. Feeling puzzled I went to check on the woman, but she vanished, also the lighter footprints appear, but didn’t leave any tracks.

Feeling very tired, I went on to the tavern, talked with the bartender for a bit, and went to sleep dwarven style, and by that I mean with a large empty mug of ale in my hand. I woke up and went to talk with the local smith, and pressed on north. I had a very blunt conversation with an elven guard at the border of the Silver-leaf Clan. He told me where I could find mines for ore. I feel the stone pull at me just as I pass the Bloodwood border. I may not know much about Elven lands, but I know that no one comes out of Bloodwood alive. I trust the protection of my bloodstone, and venture forth into Bloodwood.

Just inside the treeline, a group of human sized stones stand in a curve along the border of the trees. Seeing that it was odd, I pressed forward coming to much larger stones in the same fashion. Magic was placed on these stones and I felt the stones “memories”. Bodies lay sprawled about the forest floor, a blood chilling howl, a blurred figure, then nothing. I move between the stones, seeing the very bodies from the vision. A howl rang through the trees, and a blurry figure came racing towards me. As it came in for a killing blow, the stone from the cave began to glow in my hand and shielded me from the creature. Eventually it gave up and went off. I pressed on, coming up to an ancient fortress. I climbed through a broken portion of a wall and walked to the center. I noticed that there was no gate and anytime I faced where a gate should have been the stone glowed again. I walked toward it and the wall became a silvery liquid. As it turned out it was a portal.

There before me was the biggest tree I have ever seen! It was so massive, even the dwarven structures pale in comparison! At the base of the tree there was a fire, and sitting at the fire was a man with a wolf.